Main line rail industry news – Page 1169
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TEA-LU passes
A SIX-YEAR bill to fund US transport investment projects was approved by Congress on July 29 in the final session before the annual August recess. With lawmakers repeatedly unable to agree on a new measure, a series of 11 temporary extensions had been needed to keep the previous TEA-21 legislation ...
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Suburban renewal
THE INDONESIAN government expected to sign last month a memorandum of understanding for modernisation and operation of the Jakarta suburban network. Transport Minister Hatta Radjsasa announced on July 20 that South Korean engineering consultancy Sam-An Corp had been selected to revitalise the capital’s railways, which will be separated from national ...
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Vnukovo airport branch opens
RUSSIA’s first underground airport station was officially opened on August 7, when trains began running into Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.RZD has been running a shuttle service from the capital’s Kievskaya station since August 2004, using 33 km of upgraded freight railway. Pending completion of the 1·5 km tunnel into the airport ...
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Jerusalem concession signed
A SIGNING ceremony was held at the offices of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on July 17 to mark financial close for the 28-year concession to build the Jerusalem light rail network. Transport Minister Meir Shitrit and the then Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu participated in the event, along with Jerusalem's ...
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Transperth opens Thornlie Spur
A FIFTH suburban rail service in Perth was introduced on August 7, when Western Australia’s Premier Geoff Gallop inaugurated the Thornlie Spur.The A$75m branch serves a new bus/rail interchange with park-and-ride facilities for 450 cars. It diverges from the Perth - Armadale line south of Cannington, and includes a short ...
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NJT eyes cross-Hudson expansion
PROPOSALS for a new $6bn rail tunnel under the Hudson River were approved by the New Jersey Transit board of directors on July 27. Starting from Secaucus, the tunnel would run south of the existing tubes to a new terminus below Macy’s department store at 34th Street in Manhattan, which ...
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ETCS delays threaten HSL-Zuid
WHAT TYPE of train, we wonder, will Dutch operator High Speed Alliance use on the HSL-Zuid high speed line when it opens in April 2007? Or will the line open at all on that date? The reason we ask is an acknowledgement by HSA last month that the 12 Type ...
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Scanners to check freight trains
THE US Department for Homeland Security is to spend $10m on a pilot project designed to prevent terrorists from bringing bombs or chemical weapons within a few hundred metres of the Capitol, where the US Congress meets.To be completed in 18 months, the project is driven by a desire to ...
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African projects deserve support
CONSULTANTS are to be briefed shortly on the requirements for a feasibility study into a new railway linking Kasese in Uganda with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and eventually Zambia (RG 9.04 p507). The scheme, which would introduce the benefits of rail transport to Rwanda and Burundi, enjoys ...
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Bidding battle in Budapest
ON AUGUST 15 Stadler signed a SFr225m contract with Hungarian State Railways for 30 four-section Flirt EMUs to operate services on lines electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz from Budapest to Tatab
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Disneyland Resort Line ready to open
CHINA: September 12 sees the opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland park at Penny’s Bay, served by a 4 km branch from Sunny Bay on MTR’s Tung Chung Line. Revenue service on Hong Kong’s first fully-automated metro began on August 1, attracting an average of 10 000 passengers/day in the ...
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A rail vision for the capital
Forecasting that peak demand on the UK capital’s commuter railways is set to grow by 30% over the next 20 years, Transport for London’s Managing Director, London Rail, Ian Brown explained to Robert Preston how a package of major projects, upgrades and smaller schemes should deliver the extra capacity
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Vancouver contract signed
CONSTRUCTION of a 19 km automated light metro from Vancouver to Richmond and Vancouver Airport is expected to start this month. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2009, ready for Vancouver to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. On August 2, TransLink's project management subsidiary Ravco confirmed that it had ...
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No away games if you always win at home
COMPANIES enjoying a monopoly of local public transport in their home markets should not be allowed to operate services elsewhere. Such is the latest transport policy suggestion from the European Commission, which put forward the idea on July 20. Essentially, the concept is for local authorities responsible for organising public ...
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Ergomechanical back support
FOLLOWING earlier scientific research into optimum back posture (RG 11.04 p747), Grammer AG used the Roma exhibition to display its first production seat with an automatically-adjusting back support.Just released on the market, but not yet ordered, the ergomechanical seat is designed to optimise support for the passenger’s back. When the ...
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Refined refinery locos
THE LIFE of three U26C Class 34-400 locos used at the Sasol Synfuels refinery in Secunda, South Africa, is being extended in an upgrading contract awarded to DCD Dorbyl's Rolling Stock Division. An extra 15 to 20 years use is now expected from the refurbished locos, which were completed in ...
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Fire Protection in Vehicles & Tunnels for Public Transport
PREPARED by the Association of German Transport Undertakings, this 504 page bilingual softback provides an overview in German and English of fire prevention and fire-fighting methods. The book is intended to help with the development and specification of new tunnel projects, and to aid the revision of practice in existing ...
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Passenger News in Brief
The Canadian government is to provide C$2·5m to ensure the continuation of Ontario Northland passenger services between Toronto and North Bay until March 31 2005.Almost all Swiss trains, buses and ferries will be non-smoking with effect from the December 11 timetable change. UK operator GNER will withdraw its smoking accommodation ...
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Managing metro communications
INTEGRATED management and operations data for the automated metro in Brescia will be provided using the Alcatel Metro Operations System. With 17 stations served by a fleet of 18 trains, the 14 km line is expected to open in 2011. AMOS is being designed as a comprehensive communications ...
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Knorr-Bremse factory opens
ON JUNE 29 Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems’ UK and Ireland headquarters and production facility at Melksham in Wiltshire (RG p5.05 p285) was formally opened by Managing Director Paul Johnson and Knorr-Bremse Rail AG executive board member Dr Dieter Wilhelm. The ceremony marked the completion of the relocation of the braking system ...